Highways Agency

The Project

The A1 trunk road between Peterborough and Blyth, Nottinghamshire, is a strategically important route linking the southeast, the east coast ports and the northeast of England.  The Highways Agency manages it on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Around 40,000 vehicles use the A1 through the East Midlands daily, almost a third of them heavy goods vehicles. Many of the road's junctions, especially those with main roads, are of the two-level type, where local and through traffic are separated, but junctions with many local roads are at-grade and use gaps in the central reservation through which traffic turns.  Such junctions have a relatively poor safety record and create a perception of hazard which inhibits their use, causing inconvenience and severance.  Therefore, the Highways Agency aims wherever possible to replace them with more suitable designs.

Studies carried out during the draft A1 Peterborough and Blyth Route Management Strategy (A1 RMS) highlighted that access to and exit from a number of villages along the A1 was very poor and relied solely on the use of gaps in the central reservation. At Elkesley there are three at-grade junctions, two with central reservation gaps. These junctions provide the only link between Elkesley and the road network, and when the trunk road is congested or affected by incidents access to and from the village is extremely difficult. The draft A1 RMS recommended that a scheme of junction improvements should be developed for Elkesley.  A reduced A1 speed limit was introduced in the 1990s as a short-term safety measure and in October 2002 the Elkesley junctions were identified as one of 92 trunk road sites in England at which improvements should be considered a priority. 

Public Consultation and Options Review

Two improvement options were exhibited at a public consultation in the Autumn of 2005. Both involved closing the all central reservation gaps and direct agricultural accesses onto the A1 around Elkesley, but they differed in their approaches to providing links for local traffic to and from the southbound carriageway of the A1 and the local road network. Option A proposed a new two-level junction and local link road to Jockey Lane northwest of the village, improvements to the existing two-level junction at Twyford Bridge (A1/B6387) east of the village and closure of all the current junctions. Option B proposed instead the construction of a new road parallel to the A1 linking the village eastwards to the local road network and the A1 at an improved Twyford Bridge junction.  Under this second option some of the current junctions would remain, but their layouts would be improved and all central reservation gaps closed.

There was strong support for improving the junctions. Option A was greatly preferred, but considered to be too near the village. After the consultation, the Agency began working to develop Option A into a scheme which would be more broadly acceptable. By October 2006 a revised scheme had been drawn up, but the changes had increased the costs, mostly because longer side-roads were needed to make the necessary connections. This did not prevent the scheme being taken forward, but it meant that it crossed an important planning threshold whereby it might be regarded as regionally-significant, funded from different sources and subject to prioritization against other transport schemes regionally rather than just Highways Agency schemes – a process which might delay its construction. 

Rather than recommend that the Secretary of State announce the amended Option A as the Preferred Route the Highways Agency decided first to explore whether a simpler scheme could be developed which could be built in the relatively short term. This required a review of the scheme to see whether there were any ways in which the designs could be amended and simplified to reflect the local road layout and the relatively low vehicle flows through the junction.  Recognising the need to avoid undue delay, we continued to explore whether the amended Option A might still be able to considered a local scheme, for delivery in the short to medium term.

By early August 2007, we had completed our review of the scheme options. It revealed that although it would be possible to deliver substantial improvements at the local scheme level, not all the identified issues would be fully addressed, the processes of design and approval might be extended due to the engineering details of the scheme and overall the scheme, although less costly, represented relatively poor value for money. 

Progress of Plans Exhibition - February 2008

On 18 and 19 February 2008 we held an exhibition of two variants of a new scheme based on the favoured 2005 Option A.We also took the opportunity to display for the first time, for comparison purposes, the 2006 and the simpler 2007 schemes. In both versions of the new 2008 scheme, the junction and link road had been moved westwards, but the provision of the northbound on/off slip roads was dealt with differently between the two. In Version 1, as in the previous Option A, the slip roads were proposed to be rebuilt, to higher standards, very near the current main Elkesley access, whereas in Version 2 the existing access would be removed and the slip roads integrated with the junction farther northwest. The question of whether to close the southern village access at Twyford Lane was left open under both variants, although the exit from the village at Twyford Lane to the A1 northbound, which falls far short of current design standards, would be closed as part of any scheme.

The exhibition, held at the Elkesley Memorial Hall, was well attended, with over 200 visitors over the two days. We express our thanks to all those who attended and expressed their views, and to the management of the hall for their kind assistance over the two days.

Both versions of the new scheme were broadly welcomed, and the scheme was generally felt to be the best yet exhibited. However, some suggestions for further improvements were made, and the Agency carefully considered how the exhibited ideas might be improved. In May 2008, the Agency secured agreement to proceed with the scheme, on an exceptional basis, at the 'local' level, even though its costs had risen beyond normal limits for such schemes.  This agreement was reached in recognition of the unique local circumstances of Elkesley, being accessible only from the trunk road.

Preferred Route Announcement

On 22 July 2008 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the preferred route for the Elkesley Junctions Improvement.  It is based on the exhibited Version 1, which provides for the northbound slip roads to be linked to the High Street/Coalpit Lane junction. This avoids the need for a second elevated and lit roundabout on the south side of the A1, which should reduce the visual intrusion of the roads upon the western part of the village, and reduces the length of most journeys between the village and the northbound A1. We have also taken the opportunity to move the proposed bridge link road - the new link between Coalpit Lane and Jockey Lane - a little farther westwards, away from Pepperly Rise, which many residents requested.  To reduce the effects of traffic - including lorries accessing the Crookford timber works - on Coalpit Lane/Pepperly Rise, we have agreed with Nottinghamshire County Council that we will build a new link road parallel to Coalpit Lane from the end of High Street to a point west of Pepperly Rise. This will allow us to convert the residential section of Coalpit Lane into a cul-de-sac and to preserve most of the hedgerow there.  These works will be part-funded by the county council.

For the time being, the southerly junction at Twyford Lane will remain open, but only for access from the northbound A1 into the village. The access to the A1 will be closed to all but emergency vehicles.  In allowing Twyford Lane to remain open, we will explore with the county council the possibility of their introducing an environmental weight limit along Twyford Lane and High Street, which would prohibit heavy good vehicles from using those roads except for loading purposes. 

The proposals included in the preferred route do not include any improvements to the A1/B6387 Twyford Bridge junction, for which we will be bringing forward separate proposals. When we do that, we will review again whether the A1 exit at Twyford Lane should remain open to traffic.

Once the Elkesley junctions work is complete, we intend to restore the national speed limit on the A1 from a point northwest of Twyford Lane junction.  A 1-mile section of the A1 southeast of Twyford Lane junction will remain subject to a 50mph speed limit.

Documents relating to the preferred route announcement will be on deposit for a period of 12 weeks from 22 July 2008 at the usual deposit points, including Elkesley Post Office, Retford Library, Worksop Library and Bassetlaw District Council offices, and we will be undertaking an extensive letter-drop locally.

A leaflet about the Preferred Route Announcement and Secretary of State's decision as well as a copy of the A1 Elkesley Junction Improvements Public Consultation Report - 2006 is available from the Publications page.

What Happens Next - Preferred Route Announcement and Draft Orders

Notice has been served on the local planning authorities of the preferred route.  This means that the road proposals should be revealed by local searches and that any development proposals which might affect them should be referred to the Agency by the planning authorities before determination. 

We will now begin the process of preparing draft Orders for the improvements, which involves the preparation of detailed designs. The Orders are required to give the Agency the legal powers to acquire the land needed for the scheme and to alter the highways, and their publication in draft offers the opportunity for formal comment on the scheme, including expressions of support or objection. We hope to be in a position to publish the draft orders in the spring of 2009. Depending on the nature and weight of any objections, a public inquiry before an independent inspector may follow.

Subsequent progression, as with all road improvement schemes, will be subject to completion of the statutory processes and to confirmation of funding, but we hope to start work on site in the second half of 2010.